Questions tagged [fossils]
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What, if any, paleoclimate data can be derived from stromatolite fossils?
Stromatolite fossils have a layered structure vaguely reminiscent of tree rings, which are a well-known source for climate data. Although the formation process of stromatolite layers is less seasonal ...
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Why are many fossils found in deserts?
Why are deserts famous for fossils? Is it a coincidence? Some examples:
Giant Catfish Fossil Found in Egyptian Desert
Chile's stunning fossil whale graveyard explained
Giant Dinosaur Fossil Found ...
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How can I learn to spot fossils and fossil-bearing rocks on the Jurassic coast?
Due to a pleasant change in my circumstances, I have been to Lyme Regis several times recently, and it seems as though I'm going to be a regular visitor over the next few years.
As a former biologist ...
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What periods of the fossil record are most lacking in specimens?
What parts of the fossil record are most lacking in specimens? That is, if you were to trace the evolution of a modern mammal (humans, for example) from abiogenesis to now, which periods are the most ...
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How can I tell if a rock is really petrified wood?
I found a rock in the Mojave desert and it resembles a tree branch including what appears to be wood grain. Is there some test or observation that can be done at home to conclusively answer my ...
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How would a Mars rover identify a microbialite fossil?
I recently read of a company in Canada using robotic technology to study freshwater microbialites. Their claim is that greater understanding of terrestrial microbialites could help in the search for ...
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How do scientists determine the absolute or 'chronometric' date of fossils?
Absolute dating is the process of determining an approximate computed age of something like a fossil. How does that work?
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What geological processes can cause local biases in the fossil record?
What are the main geological processes that can cause local biases in the fossil record, e.g. when comparing species diversity or species occurances in different areas from the same time period? I ...
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Life on Earth previous to us
I've seen in several places that there seems to be an extinction cycle on Earth of approximately 27 million years. I've read this here:
Life on Earth wiped out every 27 million years (but we've got ...
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Is the Principle of Fossil Succession accurate?
After wondering on the validity of the principle of Original Horizontality, I'm now focusing on the principle of fossil succession.
This principle states that :
Fossils of species that did not ...
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What are Ordovican trace fossils, and what do they look like?
There are some unusual structures in recent images from the Mars Curiosity Rover's MAHLI (Mars Hand Lens Imager) shown in the Space.com article Curiosity Rover Spots Weird Tube-Like Structures on Mars....
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What geographical features facilitate amber fossilization?
Image source: Wikimedia.
There seems to be a few places in the world where amber (fossilized tree resin) can be found in large quantities:
Amber can be found in many places around the world ...
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What is the oldest fossil on Earth?
What is the oldest fossil ever found on Earth? Where and when was it found? What was the oldest fossil with a brain with 2 hemispheres ever found?
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Has there ever been a case where we have found what appears to be a prehistoric fossil but have no way of dating it?
I find that when ever I learn of a new fossil, the age of said fossil is always mentioned. This perplexes me given how intuitively rare it seems to have radioactive material to date a formation. I ...
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What are these lines on this stone?
I found this on Lake Ontario in Canada. I was wondering is there is anything special/out of the ordinary about it?
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How can a non-geologist identify a rock? [closed]
I found a rock on a beach in north-east Evia, Greece. Half is light gray, and half is dark gray. There are white (or very light gray) thin lines that form swirls throughout, crossing the light/dark ...
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Curious natural patterns on the surface of basalt blocks that make up the sidewalk
During one of my walks through the city streets, I noticed that some basalt blocks that make up the sidewalk have in their surface some very curious natural patterns:
The photos above was taken at ...
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Fossil or Pseudofossil?
I found these rocks in the Oregon Coast Range many years ago and have always wondered whether the interesting image was a pseudofossil or an actual fossil. If it's a pseudofossil, any ideas on how it ...
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How to identify a predator's coprolite from an herbivore's?
I have a coprolite that is 8" by 5" and weighs 8 lbs. The shape is similar to a lumpy brain, the colors below outer crust are deep red and the crust is pastel green and grey. It has a strong density ...
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What is Oligo-Miocene radiation?
Some studies about Earth's fosilized plants/animals mention a "Oligo-Miocene radiation".
Examples:
Our study therefore strengthens previous suggestions that the absence
of very large penguins ...
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What is this fossil? What is this crystal?
My daughter found this fossil while walking through the Swabian Jura, in Southern Germany.
She asked me about it, but I have absolutely 0 clue about geology.
The crystal part is 3cm in diameter, but ...
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ID on a potential flint fossil
I was out in Swinley Forest in Bracknell(United Kingdom) last weekend. The area is a large pine forest but the ground is full of flint and is very sandy.
I stumbled across a piece of flint and ...
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Is this a fossil?
Found this on open heath land close to RAF Honington, Suffolk, UK. Its about the size/shape of a cherry tomatoe cut in half.
Thanks
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Why don't animals rot when trapped in amber? [closed]
I just saw an image of a gecko stuck in amber 58 million years ago. Why don't animals rot when they are trapped in amber? I've seen dry insects whose chitin shells persist for a long time away from ...
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Why the $\delta \, ^{18}\text{O}$ in foraminifera shells decrease with temperature even if the oceanic $\delta \, ^{18}\text{O}$ stay constant?
I understand why foram shells contain more $^{18}\text{O}$ when there are ice sheets present, since $^{16}\text{O}$ evaporates more readily and gets trapped in the ice, increasing the relative ...
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How old are Pecten fossils in general?
Many years ago, I found a piece of rock on a lakeside in Switzerland (see picture below).
I think that it could be a "fossil" from some Pecten species (do you agree?).
My question is: how old such ...
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Circular patterns at bottom of rock, is it a fossil?
The image below was taken on a hike. Circular patterns at bottom (it is flatter on this face and round otherwise) appear either man-made or possibly it is a fossil.
Any idea what this could be?
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Geological feature - what is it?
Hello,
We were walking in Bundoran in Donegal County, Ireland today and we encountered the geological feature shown in the picture (from above from cliffs and from very close up at beach level). We ...
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What is this fossil? [closed]
While walking in a state park yesterday in the Chattanooga, TN area we came across a rock that looked like this. Is it some kind of holdfast or washout from cement work? (There is an old reservoir ...
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Fossil ID: possible fauna fossil, from Perlis, Malaysia
I found this fossil while doing my fieldwork in limestone area. Description below may help to identify it.
Location: NW Perlis, Malaysia (Setul Formation). Hilly Area.
My Observation:
Have a curly ...
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Aligator or Dinosaur Fossil skin type rock
The more I looked at this stone and touched it, the more this thing looked like it was wrapped in some kind of reptile skin. It may just be a random rock. More photos if needed. Does this look like ...
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I have found this fossil tooth, could it be pliosaur ? Or maybe theropod?
Lenght: 10 mm, striated, circular cross-section
Site: Brno-Hády (limestone quarry), Moravia, Czech republic, central Europa
Age: Jurassic, oxford
The site is a good source of fossil shark teeth, ...
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Are there any rock recognition practices or games?
I'm a complete beginner in fossil collection but from my understanding I should mostly look at sedimentary rocks for fossils. However the problem is that rocks that I see in real life are not the same ...
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How long ago was the first limestone formed?
It is readily apparent from the fossil record that the first limestone was laid down hundreds of millions of years ago, but how long ago was the very first limestone formed? It could be approximately ...
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A sedimentary rock with only minerals
In my text book I came across this multiple-choice question
A sedimentary rock consists of only minerals and lacks fossils, it could be classified as:
i) a clastic sedimentary rock
ii) a chemical ...
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"Impression and pseudomorphism" in fossils
In a book on invertebrate paleontology I have (Treatise on Invertebrate Palaeontology, A) there is a diagram showing possible fates of a shell after the death of the organism.
One of the possible ...
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Fossil or Beef Limestone?
I found the below sample on Monmouth Beach near Lyme Regis and I am unsure if it is a fossil or simply beef limestone. The beef limestone is from fibrous calcite layers within a shale (known as shales ...
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Is this a fossil or something anorganic?
So, i found a weird structure in a piece of jurassic limestone. It is cylindrical and roughly one cm in diameter, enters the stone on one side and leaves on the other. Under the microscope, you can ...
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What materials are fossils made of?
I was reading on fossilization and I came across petrifaction. Are fossils that take the shape (have the shape) of the original organism made of only stone or iron? Can there be a fossil made of any ...
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What other areas of the planet might be rich in Mesozoic-era fossils that have yet to be explored?
China is a region rich in sedimentary rocks from the Mesozoic period and incredible discoveries about dinosaurs have been made there since the 1990s.
I was wondering which other areas of the planet ...
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Regular-ish chipings in slate - weird weathering, hewn or a fossil?
When hiking in the Moselvalley (on the Calmont, to be precise) I found a slightly rhomboid piece of slate measuring about 10 by 11 cm, with a thickness of ca. 2 to 4 cm.
As can be seen in the first ...
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Looking for videos/GIFs of petrification/permineralization
Do you know of any good animations, videos, or GIFs of petrification/permineralization? For some students verbal and written explanations don’t work, they don't always visualize well. So it’d be ...
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Continuous production of amber by trees in one location
In which well known amber location did trees produce amber for the longest continuous period of time, roughly how long was it, and was it long enough to see signs of evolution at work in any of the ...
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What is this fossil found in flint in Kent?
My 7 year old son found this fossil whilst cracking open flint in Deal, Kent.
The fossil (assuming it is) looks like scales/cells/shell and is chalky. The oblong lines are raised and well defined and ...
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Why does mineral oil occur below natural gas?
Why does mineral oil occur below natural gas? It was asked in our science book in the Geology section and I didn't get a clear explanation from the teacher.
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Fossil from North Norfolk coast, UK
This palm-sized rock is from the beach at Eccles-on-Sea (North Sea coastline).
I can see four types of material:
A brown, slightly translucent, 6cm tubular fossil(?) that I can mark with a steel ...
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What type of mammal does this fossil tooth belong to?
The fossil tooth was found western South Dakota in the early 1980s.
I can't be sure on the location. It might have been collected from Belle Reservoir, near Belle Fourche, Butte County, South Dakota, ...
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How quickly can coral fossilize?
On a trip to Honduras a few years ago I visited one of the islands off its north coast with a friend and went to a section of it mostly with nothing but residences which looked far less visited by ...
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Is there any significance of lacustrine gastropoda fossils regarding paleoenviroment interpretation?
How to interpret lots of gastropoda fossils seen in lacustrine marls? Do they indicate any paleoenvironment conditions? Depth, temperature, chemistry, ph?
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How Good is The Evidence For Snowball Earth?
Some geologists say there were times between 770 million years BP and 630 million years BP when ice ages were so profound that the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps met at the equator. This is called the ...
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